The Haunting of Hill House season 2 “much scarier than season 1”

Are you a fan of Netflix’s hit The Haunting of Hill House? Well, Netflix is gearing up for another season, but since everything with the Crain family was pretty well wrapped by the end of the first, it’s going the anthology route and telling a new story. According to showrunner Mike Flanagan, the second season — subtitled The Haunting of Bly Manner — will draw mainly on Henry James’ horror novella The Turn of the Screw…and a bunch of James’ other work, because we have a whole season of television to fill here.

“We’re looking at all the ghost stories of Henry James as the jumping-off point for the season, so it very much is a whole new deal,” Flanagan told Birth.Movies.Death. “It’s a cool way to expand on some of the things I loved about season one, but within the framework of a new story, without having to be restrained by the decisions we made last time.”

"For Henry James fans, it’s going to be pretty wild, and for people who aren’t familiar with his work, it’s going to be unbelievably scary. I already think it’s much scarier than season one, so I’m very excited about it."

The Turn of the Screw focuses on a governess taking care of two children on a country estate who becomes convinced that the grounds are haunted. Famously, the original story leaves it ambiguous as to whether there’s actually a haunting or if the governess is just losing her mind. Somehow we think The Haunting of Bly Manner will go with Option 1.

The story has been adapted several times, perhaps most famously with 1961’s The Innocents:

Terrifying, no? Nothing scarier than a guy with a newscaster voice interrupting the spooky parts to tell you the actors’ names.

Anyway, The Haunting season 1 was filled with ghostly Easter eggs; eagle-eyed viewers — and those of us who have rewatched The Haunting of Hill House several times — can spot dozens of ghosts hidden in and around the house. One of the most memorable ghosts was the Bent-Neck Lady. The actor who played her — Victoria Pedretti — will be back for season 2 in a new role. So it will be with a bunch of cast members, a la American Horror Story.

"We’re hanging the season on Victoria Pedretti [playing the governess Dani] and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and in addition to them, there are going to be other familiar actors from season one. Beyond that, I’ve got quite a few candidates among new faces who I really love, but we haven’t formally cast anybody yet."

Flanagan also confirmed he’ll “absolutely, 100 percent” continue the process of using practical effects like he did with Hill House. “That’s part of the DNA of The Haunting for me—that old-school approach to the ghosts,” he said. “In particular, we’re having an enormous amount of fun talking about how to take some of the ideas from season one about hidden ghosts and things like that, and find new gears for them this time. It’ll be the same type of story, and we’ll treat the ghosts very much the same way.”

RELATED PRODUCT

Cal Ripken Jr Baltimore Orioles Game Of Thrones Iron Throne Legends Bobblehead

Buy Now!

Buy Now!

There’s no release date for season 2 as of yet, and I doubt we’ll learn anything soon, since it appears that Flanagan is still working on the story. You can rest easy for now.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t NME